Montreal Makeup Artist

Monthly Archives: October 2010

So this is the last blog of my recent April series (at least for now). April was getting her engagement shots done today (I’ll link to her professional pictures eventually) and asked me to do her makeup… My very first photo shoot! (yes, even though I wasnt actually on any shoot haha).

Since April’s engagement photos are going to be memories cherished by her forever, she wanted to look like her… i.e. an extremely natural look that she would wear on a day to day basis. I concurred with that – and gave her a soft, natural and playful look that I think will turn out beautiful in her engagement pictures!

Before - No Makeup

After - Natural Makeup

After - Natural Makeup

After - Natural Makeup

I can’t wait to see the pictures – although I’m getting cold just thinking about April and Mike being outside today!

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So Halloween is right around the corner, and what’s more fun than experimenting with your makeup? (As if we actually needed an excuse). This is exactly what I decided to do tonight – except the look I did wasnt actually scary at all. Instead, I opted for a classic Marilyn Manroe look – fake eyelashes, red lips and the whole shabang!

Before - No Makeup

After - Marilyn Manroe inspired Makeup

After - Marilyn Manroe inspired Makeup

After - Marilyn Manroe inspired Makeup

All we need to do to make this look complete is throw on a short blonde wig and a white dress. With that Melissa will be the hit at any party – definitely turning more than just heads… But forget Halloween, this look can also be worn on any regular day – if the bold lips aren’t your thing (like oh so many girls), just pair the white eye combo with a nude lip. If you’re all about the bold lip – then keep it! The light eye balances out the lip, never making it look overdone.
White is the colour seen on all the runways and magazines for this winter – so join in on the trend by taking the colour to your eyes!

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Here is a continuation of my April series! April is a good teacher friend of mine – and she was quite the trooper today! After a long day of teaching (lucky us, we even had to endure a pep rally), April came to my class as a model – for my very first bridal look!

Before - No Makeup

Not only was this my first bridal look – but it was also the first time that I used individual false eyelashes on a model, which actually turned out to be easy as pie! I used a short flare lash since her eyelashes were on the shorter side to begin with – this choice in length gave her a very natural look. To the naked eye one would never think that she was wearing false eyelashes – they blended in with her natural eyelashes beautifully, which is what we were going for. Overall, this look was clean, fresh and very complimenting.

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I love love LOVE the smokey eye – I go to bed with a smokey eye and wakeup with a smokey eye. So it’s only normal that I would love the smokey eye in all colours – from purples, greens, browns, blues and of course to the staple black. Bold lips on the other hand – personally aren’t my first choice. As I’ve always said – give me a bold eye look over a bold lip look. This doesn’t mean that I can completely ignore lips (the face would look incomplete) – but I do have the tendency of playing it safe and choosing natural, light colours, which is what I decided on tonight!

Before - No Makeup

I gave Joanna a sultry purple smokey eye – which brought out the green in her eye colour very nicely. For her lips, I chose a pink colour – which is what she wears on a day to day basis. The colours turned out great – lining her lips was a bit of a feat for me, but overall I was very happy with the results.

Evening Makeup - Purple Smokey Eye

So ladies, don’t be afraid to experiment. Ditch the traditional grey and black smokey eye, and go for a bold smokey eye in a colour that may be out of your comfort zone. Without a doubt – the colour will pop, and you will look amazing! This new pop of colour will also glam up your look – bringing out your inner goddess. Get ready to turn heads!

Evening Makeup - Purple Smokey Eye

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So, I’ll be honest – makeup on a mature woman has always been slightly intimidating to me. I mean, the last thing you want a woman over 50 to look is ridiculous by putting too much makeup on her. Because of this fear, I figured that it would be perfect to use my makeup skills on my beautiful mother.

My mother, a hard working Indian woman rarely wears makeup. Her routine simply consists of lipstick and soorma – and the look works for her. I decided that I would add a bit more glamour to her everyday look, by using a sheer foundation, concealer, blush, eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow and of course lipstick.

Before - No Makeup

What I found to be most difficult with her were the discolourations on her face. She has very dark skin underneath her eyes and around her chin area. I evened this out using a honey coloured concealer. This was difficult, because I didnt want it to look like she was wearing too much makeup – however, to even out her skin tone quite a bit of concealer was needed.

After - Mature Evening Makeup

After - Mature Evening Makeup

I decided to experiment a little bit by changing her lip colour. The one thing that she is used to wearing on a daily basis is a bold lip – so I added more colour. She loved the look!

After - Mature Evening Makeup with a Bold Lip

All in all, I feel much more comfortable working on mature women. My mom made me laugh quite a bit – mostly since it was the first time that she was wearing this much makeup. She’s never worn mascara or concealer before… Little did she know what she was missing – now I think she may be addicted!

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Being a woman is a very special thing – this we all know and it doesnt have to be put into words. With being a woman however comes a lot of responsibilities and challenges, especially in the world we live in today. Unfortunately one of these challenges is Breast Cancer – which has affected many women and is actually the most common cancer among Canadian women today (Canadian Cancer Society).

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is something all females should be aware of. Breast Cancer affects many women we know; from our mothers, aunts, sisters, nieces, neighbours and teachers. So put your black chunky cardigans away for the next two weeks, take out your pink tshirts & ribbons, and see what you can do to help in the fight against cancer at the

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We all know that girl – the gorgeous brown skinned girl, with the big eyes, dark hair and big smile. We see her in the marketplace, the mall and we all went to school with at least one of them (especially in the multi-cultural world we live in today)… Who is this girl? This is all girls of Indian descent, with their exotic beauty, natural smarts and contagious smiles.

Today’s post is dedicated to all my Indo-Canadian sisters, who live their makeup lives in a world where almost no makeup products are made with them in mind. Yet many brown girls somehow manage to find the right foundation, concealer and blush colours for their skin even with very limited resources.

My favourite products for girls of Indian descent are MAC products. With their array of colours, it’s easy to find a perfect foundation colour for brown skin. Their blushes and eyeshadows also are extremely pigmented, which means that they will show up on darker skins, and even better – they won’t fade away as the day or night progresses.

A friend of mine had an Indian event to attend (part of the inspiration of this post) – and I used all MAC makeup products to complete the following look:

Natural Makeup - done by Model

Glam Makeup - using MAC products

Glam Makeup - using MAC products

Any beautiful Indian outfit can be complimented with a beautiful face of the right coloured products. So ladies, don’t be scared to experiment with different eye colours and lip colours – let your makeup palette be as diverse and colourful as an Indian wedding!

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We’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another, what is the secret to flawless skin? We all know how difficult it can be to achieve that perfected look – but it’s even harder for women of colour, as we tend to have faces full of different shades.

I wanted a system that would be fast and convenient, but would still provide an incredible full coverage. My search for that perfect foundation has come to a full stop since I have discovered this new product: the ERA Face Spray on Foundation.

This product comes in an array of shades (yes, even a few catering to brown skin!) and is perfect for oily skin.

Today, I used this product for the first time on a friend of mine. I was lucky since she is naturally gorgeous without a stitch of makeup – but with this spray on foundation, her skin seemed to glow!

Natural makeup - done by Model

Flawless Skin - ERA Spray Foundation

Overall I’m very happy with the results of this line of spray foundation – they give a beautiful airbrushed effect. I will definitely invest in more colours of this line!